# CVE-2023-42125: Avast Premium Security Sandbox Protection Link Following Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM by exploiting a symbolic link flaw in the sandbox protection feature.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 May 2024
- **Updated:** 20 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-665q-2m8r-wpx6

## What is CVE-2023-42125?

CVE-2023-42125 is a high-severity vulnerability in Avast Premium Security, published on 3 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Avast Premium Security Sandbox Protection Link Following Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Avast Premium Security. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

The specific flaw exists within the implementation of the sandbox feature. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the service to create arbitrary namespace objects. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM.
. Was ZDI-CAN-20383.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access), CWE-706 (Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-42125?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Avast Premium Security.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-42125?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-42125 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-42125 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42125 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Avast Premium Security

- [CVE-2019-18894](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18894/): Command injection in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-28964](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28964/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2022-28965](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28965/): Other in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2021-27241](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27241/): Path traversal in Premium Security (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2023-42124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42124/): Avast Premium Security Sandbox Protection Incorrect Authorization Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-42125 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-42125 is a high-severity vulnerability in Avast Premium Security, published on 3 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42125 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Avast Premium Security. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42125/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42125/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-42125
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-42125
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-42125

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42125/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.